VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, who recently suffered from the flu, was taken to a hospital in central Rome for diagnostic tests Wednesday after a weekly audience, the Vatican said, without providing further details.
Francesco arrived at the Gemelli University Hospital on Tiber Island in the Italian capital in a small white Fiat 500. After a brief visit, he was escorted away in the same car.
Earlier in the day, the 86-year-old pope entered the Vatican audience room in a wheelchair, slumped heavily in his seat and looked tired. In recent weeks he had walked a short distance to his location alone, but last week he came down with a mild case of the flu.
Francis canceled events on Saturday and Monday due to illness, but on Sunday he expressed his blessing as usual from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
He coughed repeatedly during an Ash Wednesday Mass at a church in Rome last week and chose not to take part in the traditional procession at the start of Lent.
At this time in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic began to hit Italy, Francis came down with a bad cold, forcing him to cancel several official audiences and an annual devotional at the Vatican. The Holy See has canceled events this year in favor of individual spiritual exercises.
As a young man, Francisco had part of his lung removed due to a respiratory infection in his native Argentina, and in 2021 he had part of his colon removed due to intestinal inflammation. Since last year, he has been using a wheelchair and crutches due to sprained knee ligaments and small joint fractures that have made it difficult for him to walk and stand.
The Pope delivered a brief speech at the end of the audience to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ratification of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and expressed his “concern for the many victims of these weapons.” This reminds us of the cost civilians are forced to endure. “
Additionally, he called for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine and prayed for the victims of attacks in Burkina Faso and Haiti.
At the end of the audience, he spent about an hour greeting worshipers from his wheelchair, stopping to talk, blessing babies and exchanging gifts.